Exemplary embodiments relate to a light source having a solid-state light-emitting chip, a method for manufacturing this light source, and a projector having this light source.
In the related art, progress has been made in research and development of light sources, particularly a light source having a solid-state light-emitting device. An example of the solid-state light-emitting device is a light-emitting diode (hereinafter referred to as LED). A structure for higher output from an LED has been proposed (see, for example, Gerard Harbers, Matthijs Keuper, and Steve Paolini, “High power LED illuminators for data and video projectors,” (Japan), IDW '02 Proceedings of the Ninth International Display Workshops, Dec. 4-6, 2002). In the LED, in order to efficiently utilize emitted light, light from a solid-state light-emitting chip is refracted by a substantially hemispherical lens and then exits. Also, the space between the solid-state light-emitting chip and the lens is filled with a transparent gel. By using a transparent gel with its index matched with the lens, it is possible to further improve the efficiency of light derivation. Moreover, the light from the LED is converted to substantially collimated light by using a collimating lens or the like. With such a structure, for example, a light source for illuminating a spatial light modulator such as a liquid crystal panel can be provided. It is desirable that the light source for illuminating a spatial light modulator has a small size and supplies light with uniform intensity distribution at high efficiency.